Done with Radiation!!!!

I thought I would try to be a good girl today and try to sit down and update some of my favorite people on my little battle going on right now. Once again I would like to apologize for slacking so much on this blog. Kenzie truly spoiled me when she was updating this blog. She is fabulous and extremely busy right now, and I know that it is truly my responsibility to be writing about myself.  So I am trying right now and I’m feeling very scatter-brained….so bear with me. 
So the month of August came and flew by. I have no idea where it went. It is crazy to think that summer is almost gone. I have now been fighting Leukemia for 4 months and it already seems like a lifetime, but yet not…..It’s crazy. Joe has been so strong and my true foundation through everything these past couple of months and I am so impressed with this man that I married. He is remarkable and loving and so so so so good to me!! He once again never left my side at the hospital this last month. I jinxed myself last month; unfortunately…….in August I had my last official stays in the hospital. I pretty much ran out of those hospital doors and swore that I would not be back there again, unless I desperately needed to….fever or sickness of some kind…….but of course….my body decided to catch an infection in my central line. So I ended back up in the hospital for some intense 10 days. They had to remove my central line from my chest, and I ended up developing a severe case of thrush which brought on a severe case of pneumonia, which almost put me into the ICU. I don’t remember much of this because I was pretty out of it for the first little while. Sorry visitors……I would just pass out while they were speaking to me. But I eventually pulled through and got so antsy to get out of there. I have a really hard time being cooped-up in those little rooms, but I had my wonderful husband by my side. School just happened to start that week too so Joe was running to school, work, and staying with me at the hospital, sleeping on the uncomfortable pull-out bed. He’s a saint, that boy.
Well I eventually got out over Labor Day weekend and I was able to go up to Brighton with my cute family and relax and un-wind. I think we all enjoyed it and it was so nice to spend some wonderful time out in Heavenly Father’s beautiful nature. We went for little walks and got to see a huge 800 pound moose right up close. He was beautiful! He had the biggest antlers that I had ever seen. I would have been a goner if he’d charged, but he was content to watch us as we were to watch him.
I started my radiation therapy that following week, after Labor Day. I did a series of 8 sessions of brain radiation. They fit me for a mask that fits perfectly around my head. It hooks up to a flatbed and prevents me from moving a single inch as the lasers pass around my head. The process takes a whole 5 minutes to do the treatments, so that has been great. I wasn’t too nervous for these treatments because I heard that it is painless, but it would really drain the energy from me. That I have felt. My brain is definitely a bit slower and I am really enjoying a lot more naps these days. But I am okay with that. As I’ve been doing radiation, I’ve also had to get multiple lumbar punctures (spinal taps), so those have made me the most anxious. I was pretty sick with my first one, last Tuesday. I was throwing up all day, pretty much. They hit me hard that first day. I had a radiation treatment, spinal tap, where they injected 3 different types of chemo into my spine, and then as I re-cooped after the spinal tap, they gave me 2 more types of chemo through my new pick-line. So I was done by the time I came home. But the rest of the week went pretty smoothly. I had another spinal taps that Friday but I came to realize if I was really good with my nausea medication I didn’t get as sick.
So now I’m done with radiation!!!! Also with spinal taps for 18 weeks!!!! Merry early Christmas to me.  This week I sort of have “off” so I have had a chance to relax and have a semi normal week. I got to go visit my cute kids I taught at Heartland Elementary and see all my fun teachers. Thanks again Erin for wearing your surgeon mask to make me feel less silly with my huge mask! You’re the best!
I love you all! And I promise to be better at this. I will try to write weekly. Love, Britney Jill